Massachusetts Sites

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a large storm sewer in Belmont, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Sixty inch pipe is being laid on the Belmont WPA Wellington Brook Sewer Project. This storm sewer will run 510 feet from Waverly Town Yard to Waverly Street.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor conducted improvements at the former Webster School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: In Webster Grammar School, Cambridge, WPA workmen have weather-stripped 194 windows. This work will result in a saving of fuel costs, elimination of drafts from loose windows and will help maintain an even temperature throughout the building.

"This new building has 70 rooms, accommodating 750 students. There are 17 standard classrooms, 4 conference rooms, 6 laboratories, and an industrial-art shop. Besides these, the special rooms are a library, music room, auditorium with balcony and stage, cafeteria also used as a study hall, 3 conference rooms; a gymnasium for boys and another for girls, which, by means of a sliding partition, can be made into one large room; library convertible into a study hall, apparatus room, special exercise room, girls' rest room, lockers, and shower rooms. The miscellaneous service rooms are 2 rooms for teachers, 5 for officers,...

A previous iteration of the Wellington Bridge, which carried Fellsway across Mystic River between Somerville and Medford, was constructed as a New Deal-sponsored P.W.A. project. "The completion of the Wellington Bridge, constructed under the authorization of Chapter 365 of the Acts of 1933 as a Public Works Administration Project, is a fine example of a public improvement made possible through Federal aid." "National Industrial Recovery Project Mass. State D-1, P.W.A. Docket No. 4478. Furnishing and installing lighting standards, cables and other materials on the Wellington Bridge in Somerville and Medford"

According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, “Some of the park development and most of the road systems are attributed to Civilian Conservation Corps activities in the 1930s.”

Improvements were made to the Millbury, Massachusetts's old West Millbury School building and grounds with the assistance of federal New Deal funds. The old school, which also went by the name of Grass Hill School, has since been restored by the local historical society. The Civil Works Administration provided labor for a roof shingling project begun and completed in 1933. At the same time Federal Emergency Relief Act funds enabled other improvements at the school, such as the installation of concrete steps. The National Youth Administration conducted miscellaneous improvements at the school.

W.P.A. project description: "West Roxbury Parkway; all the rough work involved in the construction of a road and parking space at the top of Bellevue Hill has been completed. The finished surfacing (bituminous) will be done in the spring of 1938." "Veterans of Foreign Wars, West Roxbury, and Turtle Pond Parkways; the roadsides of these parkways were beautified for their entire lengths by grubbing, grading and seeding. Ten miles, or 176,000 square yards of property was reclaimed."

1939 MDC annual report: "A traffic circle was constructed at West Roxbury Parkway and Centre Street, West Roxbury. The work was performed under P. W. A. Docket No. Mass. 1510-F, Massachusetts State Project No. D-207."

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed sewers in West Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Keeping pace with the development of Rendal Road and Weld Street district, in West Roxbury, WPA constructed 1200 feet of sewer and pipe drains. Throughout Boston, WPA has laid more than 21 miles of sewer pipe to date.

Formerly the Westfield State Sanatorium, what is now Western Massachusetts Hospital was constructed as a New Deal project with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) assistance. The P.W.A. supplied a $364,275 grant for the project, whose total cost was $1,002,217. Construction occurred between Jan. 1936 and Dec. 1937. PWA Docket No. MA W1155.

W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: "ew projects will build two huge dikes in Springfield and its sister community, West Springfield, at a cost to the government of $304,000. At its peak, next spring, the projects will employ about 500. ... The West Springfield project will begin near the Eastern States Exposition grounds (inundated during the '36 flood) and extend in a southeast direction to the Agawam bridge embankment. It will include 6000 tons of rip-rap."

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor worked to develop what is now Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, then Westfield Air Base. Project details: "Make improvements at airport" Official Project Number: 165‐1‐14‐237 Total project cost: $1,178,513.00 Sponsor: Mayor, City of Westfield "Improve field by clearing, grubbing, and landscaping" Official Project Number: 265‐3‐14‐78 Total project cost: $1,140,506.00 Sponsor: War Department, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer, Providence

"President Roosevelt signed a $750,000 Works Progress Administration (WPA) project bill for the air base's construction in November 1939. Fourteen hundred WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers cleared the land, and actual construction was started in February 1940." W.P.A. project information: "Construct and improve facilities and grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐23 Total project cost: $4,197,055.00 Sponsor: War Department, District Engineer, Corps of Engineers "Construct telephone system" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐340 Total project cost: $98,526.00 Sponsor: Commanding General, 1st Corps Area, U.S. Army "Construct and improve facilities and grounds" Official Project Number: 65‐3‐14‐715 Total project cost: $1,497,384.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Northeast Air Base, Constructing Quartermaster, Westover Field, U.S. Army

The historic former police station for Weymouth, Massachusetts—now the Weymouth Teen Center—was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1936. The building housed law enforcement operations until 1996. The PWA provided a $12,735 grant for the project, whose total cost was $38,769. PWA Docket No. MA W1236

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor constructed a water main along Wharf Rd. in Rockport, Mass.

Between World War I and World War II, the economy of New Bedford changed dramatically. The city’s whaling industry disappeared and textile manufacturing plummeted. In 1937, the city’s unemployment rate was a staggering 32.5 percent. New Bedford was down and out, with many families struggling to survive. The WPA's intervention in New Bedford was intended to boost the city's fishing industry. In 1925, New Bedford fishermen still had to sell their catches at Fulton Fish Market in New York because New Bedford did not have its own fish auction house. Eventually buyers began to come to New Bedford to buy...

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created Wheelwright Park trails in Cohasset, Massachusetts. The area was already a public park but the WPA greatly improved the accessibility. The trails that were cleared are about 4,000 feet or .7 miles long and traverse an area of 232 acres of land known as Wheelwright Park. The trails were constructed of gravel but have since become covered in leaves and pine needles. The park has trails that have natural rock formations in the midst of them as well as beside them. At parts there are natural rocks carved to be stairs in...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor conducted sewer and drainage work in Fall River, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: Inadequate drainage resulting in flooded conditions about Bedford and Stinzo Streets. Fall River, will be remedied with the replacement of this new WPA White Brook drain from Bedford Street to Quequchan River. This area has been heavily redeveloped since the Depression era.

The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) supplied labor for Maynard town projects White Pond in 1934. In addition to planting trees, workers cleaned its banks of brush and dead wood, and cut wood for other purposes. White Pond, an important component of Maynard's water supply system, is physically split among Hudson and Stow townships. Work was continued by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.).

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) expanded the water system in Amesbury in the Whitehall St. area.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers rebuilt the road around Whiting Reservoir in Holyoke, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Whiting Reservoir, Holyoke, a rippling splash set in a beautiful green countryside, is bordered by a narrow, dangerously curved road, lacking gutters, retaining banks and culverts. A Holyoke WPA Project is making this roadway a safe and modern thoroughfare.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted work at the since-demolished Whitney School, which had been located on School Street in South Ashburnham, in 1937. W.P.A. Bulletin: "In Ashburnham a long needed assembly room will be available for pupils of Emmeline Jewell Whitney School when a current project is completed. In order to create the assembly hall partitions are being removed and "accordion" style folding doors installed. Steal beams will support the weight formerly held up by the partitions."

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted improvement work at Ashland's Wildwood Cemetery, beginning in 1935.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) rebuilt Williams St. in Pittsfield, Mass. WPA Bulletin: William Street, Pittsfield, a direct route from Pittsfield center to the Washington Mountain Road is being widened and reconstructed by WPA. Work includes filling, grading, oiling, building catch basins and a culvert and general repairs to a mile of roadway.  

The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) conducted improvement work at Maynard's former Wilson School, including the installation of smoke partitions. The Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) conducted further work in 1941. All school buildings in the town "on the exterior have been completely renovated by having the windows weather stripped, puttied and painted. The interior... are now being repaired with W.P.A. labor by installing new celotex ceilings where needed, replacing plaster ceilings that were beyond repairs, having the hallways, classrooms washed and painted. These repairs have added consiterabl to the appearance of our school buildings." The building was destroyed by fire in 1952.  

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was most likely the agency involved with work at the Wilson School. The structures of the then-Woodrow Wilson School appear to have been replaced with modern facilities; a school of the same name continues to operate at the same location.

"Winch Park is the sister park to Butterworth and is located in Saxonville adjacent to the Framingham High School. It includes a baseball stadium that includes permanent bleachers on one side of the field, a basketball court, tennis courts and two large practice fields used for football, soccer and lacrosse. There are two additional multi-use fields located on the other side of the high school's gymnasium building." "Bowditch, along with Butterworth and Winch Parks, were all built during the Great Depression of the 1930s as WPA projects." (Wikipedia)

The Civilian Conservation Corps completed work at the Windsor State Forest in Windsor MA, between 1933 and 1938. "Located deep in the rolling hills of the Berkshires, Windsor State Forest is known for its beauty. Visitors can experience the cascading waterfall at Windsor Jambs, and the Windsor Jambs Brook winds through a wide gorge with 80-foot granite walls." (https://www.mass.gov/locations/windsor-state-forest) "In 1933, CCC Camp SP-9 (Company 115) was established at Windsor State Forest. The first year was spent on building roads and on forestry work, as well as improvements at Windsor Jambs where a trail, parking lot and picnic area were constructed.... Other...

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted repair work along Winter St. in 1935, and extended the water system there as well.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) undertook improvement work along Winter Steet in Framingham, Mass., including culvert construction and the building of a bridge over the Sudbury River in 1939. Living New Deal believes the bridge to be largely intact and still in service.

The WPA built sidewalks in the town of Stoughton, Mass. "The sidewalk project is expected to be completed about October 1 . The sidewalk crew has 14 men and as soon as the Sumer Street sidewalk is finished they will build a new sidewalk on the southerly side of Winter Street from Summer to Water Streets, a distance of 840 feet. From Winter Street they will go to Prospect Street, where they will put in a new sidewalk on the westerly side of the street from Boylston to Seaver Streets, a distance of 1,930 feet."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted a painting project at the former Woodland School (now South Hadley Council on Aging) in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Woodrow Ave. in Boston, Mass. underwent reconstruction as part of a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project.

Oxford, Massachusetts's old Woodward School received assistance from multiple New Deal programs during the 1930s. In 1933 the Civil Works Administration (CWA) graded a playground at the school and painted and decorated the building, a project which, town reports state, is "a work that does great credit to those having it in charge." The school grounds were further improved and graded during 1934 utilizing funds provided by the federal Emergency Relief Administration. The building still houses educational facilities, though it is no longer known as the Woodward School.

"Three mural panels by Ralf Edgar Nickelsen are located on the second floor of the Main Library. The murals are titled: Reading of the Mail – Communication of Ideas (87” x 204”). The women reading their mail and conversing represent the manufacturing workers of Worcester in the 1930’s. Street Building – The Foundation of All Communication (97” x 204”). This depicts men building a road in the 1930’s. Farming in the Worcester Region (97” x 382”). This depicts agricultural activities in the Worcester area prior to 1910. Men are reaping and women are gathering the fallen stalks into sheaves. Wheat and rye were...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) commissioned, constructed, and cut the historic World War Memorial at Draper Memorial Park in Milford, Mass. It was dedicated Nov. 11, 1939.

By the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated president in 1933, the United States was suffering the worst economic collapse in its history. In order to stimulate the economy and lessen unemployment, Roosevelt started the Public Works Administration (PWA) and, eventually, the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA completed a wide variety of public works projects, ranging from building sidewalks to painting public murals. One of the most significant WPA projects in Newburyport was the World War Memorial Stadium built in 1938-39. Large portions of the stadium still exist, and it stands as an excellent example of the living New...

These three Work Projects Administration stamps are set into the sidewalk along Central St. in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

A WPA project in Sandwich, Massachusetts approved in late 1938 involved the construction of sidewalks "in the thickly populated sections of the town."

The Massachusetts Department of Forestry acquired "one thousand acres of land in Wrentham and Plainville" in 1934. CCC labor was utilized to "clean up the underbrush, make the woodroads into real roads, rebuild old dams which have been down for many years, stock the ponds with fish, and set out young pine trees."